1 NOAA MARINE FISHERIES + + + + + PUBLIC MEETING ON A PERMIT APPLICATION FROM MYSTIC AQUARIUM + + + + + IMPORT OF 5 BELUGA WHALES INTO THE UNITED STATES FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH PURPOSES + + + + + MONDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2019 + + + + + The Public Meeting convened in the Great Hall at the Silver Spring Civic Center, 1 Veterans Place, Silver Spring, Maryland, at 1:00 p.m., Amy Sloan, Moderator, presiding. STAFF PRESENT: JENNIFER SKIDMORE, Biologist, Permits and Conservation Division AMY SLOAN, Deputy Chief, Permits and Conservation Division COURTNEY SMITH, Principal Scientist with Ocean Associates SHASTA McCLENAHAN, Biologist, Permits and Conservation Division CARRIE HUBARD, Biologist, Permits and Conservation Division AMY HAPEMAN, Biologist, Permits and Conservation Division JORDAN RUTLAND, Sea Grant Fellow, Permits and Conservation Division Neal R. Gross and Co., Inc. (202) 234-4433 Washington DC www.nealrgross.com 2 1 P-R-O-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S 2 1:00 P.M. 3 MS. SLOAN: Good afternoon, everyone. 4 And thank you for coming to the public hearing on 5 the permit application, File No. 22629 submitted 6 by Mystic Aquarium. 7 My name is Amy Sloan. I'm the Deputy 8 Division Chief of the Permits and Conservation 9 Division of NOAA Fisheries, Office of Protected 10 Resource. 11 Today, I'm going to give a very brief 12 presentation. I'll try to go through this as 13 fast as I can to give speakers time. We'll just 14 go over the logistics, the purpose, and a review 15 of the application, an overview of the process 16 that we use to make a decision on the 17 application, and then I'll pause and take 18 questions on our process. 19 And then we're going make sure that 20 everyone has had a chance to register. I'm glad 21 we were allowed to let you guys in early because 22 I think most everyone is registered and then Neal R. Gross and Co., Inc. (202) 234-4433 Washington DC www.nealrgross.com 3 1 we'll take oral comments and you'll be speaking 2 at the front. 3 As you know, there's two registration 4 tables. I think everybody is fine then, so I 5 don't really have to worry about going over 6 those. I do want to make sure everybody filled 7 out a speaker card. If you did not fill out a 8 speaker card, and you need to speak, please do it 9 when I'm done with my presentation. 10 And also, sign in. We have an 11 attendance sheet, so we would like to have your 12 name and contact information. 13 You may also submit written comments 14 before or after you speak and we would upload 15 those to the FDMS. 16 We're going to randomize the order of 17 speakers. The time limit, and we're hoping to 18 give everybody at least five minutes, but right 19 now we already have 28 speakers, so it looks like 20 it might be around four minutes, but what we'll 21 do is when I finish my presentation, we'll do a 22 double check on where we are on time and then Neal R. Gross and Co., Inc. (202) 234-4433 Washington DC www.nealrgross.com 4 1 we'll give you a final time limit. 2 As I mentioned, you'll be speaking up 3 at the front, but when it's time for questions, 4 Jordan Rutland in the back will hand a microphone 5 around if you have questions on the process when 6 I get to that point. 7 We do have a court reporter, who will 8 be taking a written record of the hearing today, 9 and we will post that on our website when it's 10 available. 11 And please take a moment to silence 12 your cell phones right now, if you don't mind and 13 I think everyone will be courteous and kind 14 during the presentations. 15 So the purpose of the hearing is for 16 you, the public, to be able to provide oral 17 comments on the permit application submitted by 18 Mystic Aquarium. It's not for discussion or for 19 debate. It's for you to stand up and provide 20 your comments. 21 And then also as I mentioned, it will 22 be an opportunity if you have questions on the Neal R. Gross and Co., Inc. (202) 234-4433 Washington DC www.nealrgross.com 5 1 permit process. 2 So for the application, Mystic 3 Aquarium has requested a scientific research 4 permit to import five beluga whales from 5 MarineLand of Canada to Mystic Aquarium. The 6 beluga whales proposed to be imported were born 7 in captivity at MarineLand of Canada and at least 8 one parent is from the depleted Russian stock. 9 Mystic proposes to conduct health 10 related research studies and develop non-invasive 11 research techniques to contribute knowledge and 12 inform the management and recovery of beluga 13 whale populations in the wild, including 14 endangered and depleted populations. 15 There are eight research studies 16 proposed which are detailed in the permit 17 application itself and they include neural 18 immunological studies, as I mentioned, developed 19 as non-invasive techniques, hearing and 20 physiological response to sound, photogrammetry, 21 diving physiology, microbiome, behavioral and 22 reproduction studies which would involve natural Neal R. Gross and Co., Inc. (202) 234-4433 Washington DC www.nealrgross.com 6 1 breeding only, and testing of prototype telemetry 2 devices and cameras. 3 In order to achieve those objectives, 4 Mystic would train the beluga whales to 5 voluntarily participate in the studies. They 6 propose to have the whales on display incidental 7 to the research, and if deemed necessary for 8 health or welfare, they propose to transport a 9 whale or whales to Georgia Aquarium where the 10 same research would occur. 11 Regarding public comments, as I 12 mentioned, oral comments given today will be 13 recorded in writing and that written record will 14 be posted on our website which is at the bottom. 15 The written records may be also turned 16 in today and if you do turn your written records 17 in today in a hard copy format, we will scan them 18 and upload them to regulations.gov and that is 19 where public comments may be submitted in writing 20 electronically through close of the comment 21 period which is December 2nd. 22 And the permit application and Neal R. Gross and Co., Inc. (202) 234-4433 Washington DC www.nealrgross.com 7 1 instructions for submitting the comments are on 2 our website. 3 Regarding our decision process, so we 4 will review each and every comment that's 5 submitted. And then we will take into 6 consideration the relevant and substantive 7 comments, the statutory issuance criteria under 8 the Marine Mammal Protection Act Section 104, the 9 Marine Mammal Protection Act regulatory issuance 10 criteria, and then we will prepare the National 11 Environmental Policy Act documentation. And then 12 our office director will make a final decision on 13 the application. 14 So I'll pause for a moment to see if 15 there are any questions on this process. Okay. 16 Oh, yes? Could you go to the 17 microphone, please? 18 PUBLIC COMMENTER: If we submit-- 19 MS. SLOAN: --You are on. 20 PUBLIC COMMENTER: If we submit 21 written comments today, can we also submit a 22 different set of comments at some later point? Neal R. Gross and Co., Inc. (202) 234-4433 Washington DC www.nealrgross.com 8 1 MS. SLOAN: Yes. Thank you. Thank 2 you for the question. Any others? Great. 3 So has anyone who wants to speak not 4 filled out one of these cards? So I think we're 5 good. 6 As I mentioned, the speaker order will 7 be random. What I'll do is I'll call the first 8 speaker. You're going to come up here and speak. 9 Jennifer and Courtney will remind you of your 10 time and then I'll introduce the next speaker and 11 we'll just go that way. 12 So if you can just pardon me for a 13 moment and I'll go confer with them. 14 (Pause.) 15 Okay, great. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I 16 can't give you five minutes, but you will get 17 four minutes. And so without further ado, I'd 18 like to invite Carey Richard from Mystic Aquarium 19 to be the first speaker. 20 MS. RICHARD: Good afternoon. My name 21 is Carey Richard. I'm the Assistant Curator of 22 Marine Mammals at Mystic Aquarium where I've been Neal R. Gross and Co., Inc. (202) 234-4433 Washington DC www.nealrgross.com 9 1 an animal care professional for the past 20 2 years. 3 During my tenure at Mystic, I've had 4 the opportunity to work closely with a wide 5 variety of species of marine mammals including 6 beluga whales. Every day, I have the privilege 7 to engage with guests during their visit and 8 every day I see the spark of excitement from 9 adults and children alike when they see an 10 animal, especially a beluga, for sometimes the 11 first time in their lives. 12 I entered this profession to make a 13 difference in the lives of the animals that call 14 the ocean home.